I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it.
(Read that while imaging me moving my bent arms in that particular elliptical motion that is common with those words.)
Only 2 more rooms to go.
I have done all I can in the living room today. I have been cleaning, and rearranging for the past 4 hours.
I’m done.
I don’t have the whole room as a “before”, which is a shame, but I do have most of it.
Here is the miracle transformation.
I swept, vacuumed, and mopped the entire floor.
I know, I know. I had to sit down, too. Well, I had to sit down because my back was yelling at me to do so, so I took a gram of Ibuprofen, then sat down.
Behind the two chairs facing outward, in the photo directly above, #5, there are 11 empty totes, with lids that need to go upstairs. Until they do, they will be “hidden” behind the chairs. (You didn’t even notice them, did you!?!)
And, towards the window, just under the painting, in the same photo, is a small TV, and my foldable bicycle. The two totes have vacuum sealed bedding that go to our single bed, in the spare bedroom, that is next on the list to be gutted. (It’s the room where my father in law spent his last weeks with us, 2 years ago.)
Under the painting on the left, in photo #4, that my friend Connie M. painted for me, are 2 totes with various bits of this, and that, but able to be accessed as needed. What you can’t see, on the floor, in front of the totes, is an entire tote’s worth of gardening bits, and bobs. They are better where they are. Trust me.
Then, in photo #3, you can see that we keep a large tote on the “diablo”, the dolly, at all times. We use it, mostly, to store all of the cardboard we collect from ordering supplies on line. When it’s overly full, we take the contents downstairs to the basement, and put it in the cardboard area to be recycled.
We also use it to bring up our mega haul of groceries, like we did just the day before this. We went to the 3 different stores, and bought each of them out of business. (Yes, we still share our bounty with our friends upstairs). There is absolutely no way we could bring all of the groceries upstairs when we buy in bulk.
We separate the disposables here, in the condo, by glass, cardboard/paper, plastic, organic, and “regular”. In photo #3, there is a large black garbage bag hanging off the left side of the metal cart, between the lamp, and the diablo. That is for the “regular” garbage; stuff that isn’t any of the others, like bubble wrap, and bathroom garbage. It’s all put into various boxes, bins, or bags to be taken, again, to the basement, and put in their allotted bins.
The white buckets are mostly for organic waste; kitchen scraps, to be precise. They are the only organic waste allowed. I do put in an occasional paper towel, napkin, or tissue because they, too, are organic. I’m trying to get the garbage collectors to think outside the box. JK.
Well, that should have been enough for you to have waded through for one sitting. Thanks for that.
I hope you have enjoyed the fruits of my labor. I sure do. It is so much more peaceful, less anxiety causing when I come into the living room. It was sooo worth the time, and effort. We are no longer living in a storage unit.
Will we be able to find anything when we need it ? Only time will tell.
Until next time, please, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.
Post script: the only downside is that now the rest of the shelves are reachable, so I have no excuses to ignore cleaning them. Damn!! 😉
Post post script: I have to keep looking over my shoulder to make sure nothing has changed; that everything is still where I put it. 😉